Posted by alexandra_k on March 30, 2005, at 0:42:04
In reply to Re: (viii) Gestalt switches and change in... » alexandra_k, posted by Damos on March 29, 2005, at 22:18:57
OO
OOIs the above one thing - or four?
(Is their one self or many?)How many are there REALLY?
There must be a fact of the matter...
But my point is that there isn't.Look at it one way and it is one thing (comprised of four parts).
Look at it another way and it is four things. The whole is nothing 'over and above' the parts and the way they are arranged.
There isn't a fact of the matter.
There isn't a truth beyond the objective facts of behaviours - and the INTERPRETATION we adopt. The way we choose to view them.There can be a genuine indeterminacy.
The facts (of behaviour) can't settle the issue.
It is a matter of INTERPRETATION.How do we choose which interpretation tracks the truth? It is the one that gives us the best predictive power.
If something works to make predictions
We can use it to explain
Then it is the best description we have of the way things REALLY are.It is fairly complicated.
But my point is that interpretation is the key.
And if you think that then the dispute between the supporters and the sceptics only arises because they think one is right and the other is wrong. But that is just not so...
poster:alexandra_k
thread:476616
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/write/20050321/msgs/477513.html